| Author | Message | ||
     Sandra Ormerod |
Hi Brian I have mentioned before that CHDTG ( Chester )have for many years run an allcomers class in which open drivers can compete young horses /ponies they drive novice dressage do cones at novice speed and have a little more time on the marathon this class is always well supported and has proved very usfull to many of our members | ||
| Fiona Powell |
Brian, thanks for raising this: new ideas don't always meet with universal and instant approval and action! Few would disagree with your comments on inexperienced horses/advanced movements, I feel sure. EACDG has wonderful judges who knuckle down to judge five different tests for the open singles: one arena had nine different tests in April... 99% of open drivers like the "all-comers dressage tests": the best still win - for a little game, see the Announcement threads with the EACDG event times and then guess who will win each class before seeing the results - www.eacdg.co.uk I recommend "all-comers dressage" to other clubs (but look after your scorer/scheduler kindly! It takes us at least two whole days to produce all the paperwork and schedule) and "train" your competitors to tell you what they are sharing when they enter. I believe it has encouraged club open drivers - all bar one, who does not come to our events any more! I like the larger classes and I think it makes for better competition... p.s. re. different times for cones/marathon for less experienced horses... Imagine trying to decide on the criteria? Scheduling, scoring and getting the scores out quickly is hard enough already. Please keep it simple! | ||
| Brian Cairns |
Fellow driving enthusiasts and horse lovers. After speaking to lots of fellow drivers and reading your comments and thoughts I have come to the conclusion that changes are needed to benefit our sport. The main problem I see is with the governing body who do not like change, whether it be beneficial to the sport or not. Knowledgeable horsemen everywhere realise to ask a young green horse to do advanced dressage movements is physically and mentally taxing in most cases. A young horse should be allowed to move up through the classes to ensure it is never ever pushed beyond its capabilities. Having spoken to advanced ridden dressage instructors they find it madness to expect our novice horses to collect and extend in their tests. We now know that too much collection in ridden horses can cause suspensory lameness and yet we ask our horses to pull a carriage and collect! Finally at club level I would like to see a novice horse allowed to drive a novice test in the open class and an allowance made in the cones and the marathon. Alternatively I would be happy with an all comers class that the East Anglia Club have tried with great success. In conclusion I am appealing to like minded people to persuade their respective club committees to change their way of thinking to accommodate the novice horse in their schedule of classes. |